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 Finally, we have good news on health care reform coming out of the nation’s capital. In October 2017, President Trump issued an executive order calling for more consumer choices in the health insurance market. The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury responded by taking aim at an Obama administration policy that severely limits the flexibility of a coverage option called “short-term, limited-duration insurance plans.” (Lindsay Boyd Killen, 5/1)

The Trump administration wants to promote health-care coverage by using a special kind of health insurance known as short-term policies. This, the administration argues, would “provide more affordable consumer choice for health coverage.” But this isn’t just about consumer choice. By promoting short-term policies, the administration is making a trade-off: lower premiums and less coverage for healthy people, and higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions who need more comprehensive coverage. (Karen Pollitz, 5/1)

Legislation to require Medicaid recipients to work is racing through the Legislature. Last week, the Michigan Senate passed a bill that would impose 29-hour-per-week work requirements on many adults enrolled in the state’s Medicaid programs. The state House could take up the issue this week.Michigan’s proposed work requirement is one of the most stringent put forward to date. The Senate bill does not provide funding for supportive services – such as child care, transportation, or job training – that could help individuals find work.  As written, the legislation stands to lock some Michiganders out of health care and potentially keep them from working. (Marianne Udow-Phillips, Megan Foster Friedman and Luke Shaefer, 4/30)

Michigan Sen. Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) represents Cheybogan County, where unemployment is high, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics: around 20.9% in February. Schmidt also represents Chippewa County, where unemployment was about 10.5% that month. But unlike Medicaid recipients elsewhere in Michigan, the residents Schmidt represents are unlikely to be harmed by SB 897, a piece of legislation the senator co-sponsored. Approved by the state Senate on party lines last week, the bill would require recipients of Medicaid to prove they work 30 hours a week to retain their health-care coverage. (Nancy Kaffer, 5/2)

Before a clinician can provide Medicaid-related care, federal law requires that she or he must undergo a background screening before enrolling in a state’s Medicaid program. State Medicaid agencies are responsible for carrying out both screening and enrollment. Although the goal — detecting and weeding out providers who might pose fraud or abuse risks — is a good one, the process can impede a child’s access to care because states regularly require providers already enrolled and in good standing in their home state, or through Medicare, to go through subsequent screens in order to treat patients from another state. (Nick Manetto, Joshua Greenberg and Mathieu Gaulin, 5/1)

Ohioans respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people. Regardless of political ideology or party affiliation, we all want a government that encourages economic opportunity and values self-determination over unnecessary bureaucracy. This is why we have seen many legislative and administrative efforts to streamline Ohio’s regulatory process. If we create a culture of government, founded in the autonomy and innovation of Ohioans, we can better address the very real challenges of globalization in the aftershocks of the Great Recession. However, while the General Assembly and Gov. John Kasich’s administration have pushed to cut red tape in some areas, they are going in exactly the opposite direction when it comes to working families who rely on Medicaid for health care. (Loren Anthes, 5/2)

The Commonwealth Fund reported Tuesday that the administration's concerted attack on the ACA has driven the uninsured rate among working-age people (those aged 19 to 64) to 15.5%, up from 12.7% in 2016. That translates into lost coverage for 4 million Americans. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/1)